$39.95

Everyone knows and loves the Raspberry Pi, but what if the wireless capabilities only got better? The Raspberry Pi 3 B+ is here to provide you with the same Pi as before, but now with gigabit and PoE capable Ethernet, as well as better overheating protection for the 64-bit processor. The credit-card-sized computer is capable of many of the things your desktop PC does, like spreadsheets, word processing and playing high-definition video and games. It can run several flavors of Linux (and even Windows 10 free-of-charge) and is being used to teach kids all over the world how to program… Oh yeah, and it does all that for about $40.

The secret sauce that makes this computer so small and powerful is the Broadcom BCM2837, an ARM Cortex-A53 64-bit Quad Core Processor System-on-Chip operating at 1.4GHz. The GPU provides OpenGL ES 2.0, hardware-accelerated OpenVG and 1080p30 H.264 high-profile decode. It is capable of 1Gpixel/s, 1.5Gtexel/s or 24 GFLOPs of general-purpose compute. What does that all mean? It means that if you plug the Raspberry Pi 3 B+ into your HDTV, you could watch Blu-ray quality video, using H.264 at 40MBits/s.

The Raspberry Pi 3 B+ has four built-in USB ports that provide enough connectivity for a mouse, keyboard or anything else that you feel the RPi needs. But if you want to add even more, you can still use a USB hub. Keep in mind, it is recommended that you use a powered hub so as not to overtax the onboard voltage regulator. Powering the Raspberry Pi 3 B+ is easy: just plug any 5V/2.5A USB power supply into the microUSB port. There’s no power button, so the RPi will begin to boot as soon as power is applied. To turn it off, simply shut down the Pi 3 B+, then remove power. The four built-in USB ports can even output up to 1.2A, enabling you to connect more power-hungry USB devices.

On top of all that, the low-level peripherals on the RPi make it great for hardware hacking. The 0.1" spaced 40-pin GPIO header on the RPi gives you access to 27 GPIO, UART, I2C, SPI, as well as 3.3 and 5V sources. Each pin on the GPIO header is identical to its predecessor, the Model 3. If you are planning to run a NOOBS card with the RPi3 B+ make sure that it is up to date with the latest version!

Note: Due to the impressive demand for the Raspberry Pi 3 B+, we are implementing a five unit per order max limit for the Model B+ until orders balance out a little. Please contact customer service if you have any questions with placing your order.

Raspberry Pi 3 B+ not booting/Rainbow screen?

last updated
about 2 months ago

You will need to install a fresh/new Raspbian distribution (posted after 3/13/18) to your SD card. If you want to swap the SD card from your (previous generation) Raspberry Pi directly into the new Raspberry Pi 3B+, according to the Raspberry Pi forum page you will need to upgrade it first, but I have yet to get that working.

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade

RetroPie stock SD Image not working?

last updated
about 2 months ago

As of March 16th 2018, the RetroPie SD image hasn’t been updated for the new Raspbian distribution that was released for the Raspberry Pi 3B+. You will need to manually install RetroPie on a fresh/new Rasobian Stretch distribution. You will not be able to use the provided RetroPie SD image (from their download page) until it is updated.

Core Skill: Programming

If a board needs code or communicates somehow, you're going to need to know how to program or interface with it. The programming skill is all about communication and code.

3Programming

Skill Level: Competent - The toolchain for programming is a bit more complex and will examples may not be explicitly provided for you. You will be required to have a fundamental knowledge of programming and be required to provide your own code. You may need to modify existing libraries or code to work with your specific hardware. Sensor and hardware interfaces will be SPI or I2C.
See all skill levels

Core Skill: Electrical Prototyping

If it requires power, you need to know how much, what all the pins do, and how to hook it up. You may need to reference datasheets, schematics, and know the ins and outs of electronics.

2Electrical Prototyping

Skill Level: Rookie - You may be required to know a bit more about the component, such as orientation, or how to hook it up, in addition to power requirements. You will need to understand polarized components.
See all skill levels

This is a very nice revision to the pi 3, with a small bump in processor performance. I’d add to the description that while the Ethernet hardware supports 1Gbit, throughput is effectively limited to ~200-330Mbit by the USB 2.0 bus. Still, that’s up to 3x the Raspberry pi 3. (USB 3.x in a hypothetical future model would help, but apparently doesn’t yet fit into the $35 BoM.)

Wi-Fi adds 5GHz band, and this new version is also an FCC-compliant radio module, making it easier to commercialize your pi-based project!

Got my new Pi 3 B+ and have found that it will not boot with Raspian stretch, even the newest release. It also will not boot Windows 10 IOT. What did work was Raspian Noobs. Of note is the faster boot time and faster web loading. I have not messed with configuring I2c or SP1 or Uart.

Not yet - wired ethernet doesn't work

I’m sorry to hear that! Please contact our technical support team for assistance in correcting this. If we need to send out a replacement, please consider editing your review to reflect how you feel about the correctly functioning Pi when you receive it.

Fast, reliable, and power efficient

I’m using this Pi with great success to replace my home linux server/router/firewall. Pretty easy to setup with the lightweight Raspbian distro, and TP Link USB Gigabit Ethernet adapters work well in addition to the built-in Ethernet port. Very low latency, but I believe it’s performance is limited to around 300 Mbps due to USB 2.0, so this works well for most internet connections but I’d want something else if I got gigabit.

The newest Pi

Have finally gotten my hands on a Pi 3+. Board looks like the Pi 3 but with double sided components. It retains the 40 pin GPIO, camera and display connections. I found that it will not boot Raspian stretch, nor Windows 10 IOT. Raspian Noobs works well however. I suspect that Stretch just has not been updated to the new Broadcom processor so it should work in the future. I have not had a chance to work with any of the interfaces but would expect it to be pretty much like its predecessor

Amazing device

Suprisingly powerful PC on a chip

Once I cleared the download Rasperian and install OS hurdle, the Pi is fantastic. I would highly recommend getting the PI with WiFi built in, just saves a headache of network cables. The OS is pretty slick, I wasn’t expecting a Windows Like visual interface, very impressive.

Another Great Pi

I own the Pi 1 B, Pi 3 B, Pi Zero, Pi Zero W, and now this Pi 3 B+. This is easily the most performant Raspberry Pi to date. I haven’t put this through all of its paces, but out of the box it boots right up with a power supply and SD card. I also got a clear case from Sparkfun, which to me is the best Pi case on the market.

A necessary upgrade from the Pi3B

I’m a big fan of this for a few reasons.
1: 1.4 GHz processor. There’s many times where I’m running something and I wish there was a little more overhead. Or I notice a little lagging during high processing applications.
2: Built in b/g/n/ac wifi, and 4.2 BLE. DOWNSIDE, bluetooth uses the I2C bus. So if you want to use I2C you have to disable bluetooth or use the alternative pins that comes with a few caveats.
3. Ethernet now “Gigabit” cough 300Mbps.
For me this is one device I always like to have an extra laying around. The best use I have found is for my 3D printer. I noticed lagging and problems with the video and g-code processing with Pi3B. The Pi3B+ has shown no issues.
The only downside where a beaglebone or arduino still shines is the connectivity with SPI/I2C. Pi has focused more on the micro-computing in recent boards.

Excelent

In 2003, CU student Nate Seidle blew a power supply in his dorm room and, in lieu of a way to order easy replacements, decided to start his own company. Since then, SparkFun has been committed to sustainably helping our world achieve electronics literacy from our headquarters in Boulder, Colorado.

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